The Horror! The Horror! - A Christmas Shutdown

The Washington Times has an update on the carnage caused in Washington D.C. by the federal government shutdown. Be warned ye of good cheer, this is disturbing stuff. Here’s what they’re letting us know from the front lines of the shutdown:

With the shutdown hitting on a weekend and with Monday and Tuesday designated as federal holidays, workers generally won't feel the effects until Wednesday, the first full scheduled day back for affected employees.

So far, the biggest impact has been online, where some agencies have stopped updating websites and Twitter accounts. Some national park sites also slimmed operations as of Saturday morning.

The Federal Government has stopped updating its Twitter accounts. How long before people are dying in the streets? But wait it gets far worse, as the Washington Examiner tells us:

There will be some pain. The Department of Commerce, NASA, the IRS, and Housing and Urban Development would go dark until lawmakers agree to a deal. By Bogie's count, up to 380,000 employees at those agencies would be furloughed. But the pain won't last and the pain won't be that bad. Everyone gets paid once Republicans and Democrats pass compromise legislation.

Can America function for a week or so if these agencies only retain essential personnel or even send all their government workers home to watch football, unwrap their Christmas presents, eat food, and wait for their checks to come through in about 2 weeks time? It would seem that perhaps this terrifying confrontation, this constitutional conundrum, this political disaster, shall be overcome.

This is theatre of the absurd played up by both sides to try and gain perceived marginal gains in voter intention in 2020.

And all this for a ridiculously overpriced wall. Yes, the wall - that is, a physically as well as digitally as well as legally above all, secure border - should be something both sides of the aisle can agree on. That is now impossible because Democrats are beholden to their left wing who wish to deconstruct - violently if necessary - the notion of a secure border as something fundamental to a just and sovereign state. And the GOP has always been wishy washy about being strict on illegal labor because they are sometimes if not often beholden to those corporate interests that benefit from cheap illegal labor.

And now we have DHS officials "bristling" at the Washington Times estimate of $23 million PER MILE to build secure fencing, steel-slats, whatever you wish to call it. Yes, there's an infrastructure that supports each mile of a border wall. Everything from electronics, to aerial surveillance to the mechanics who make sure Border Patrol vehicles are up to the rigors of the climate and terrain, to the Border Patrol agents themselves, to coordination with local law enforcement.

But is it unreasonable to ask why it will cost $5 billion to build a couple of hundred miles of fencing and to provide the additional staff and equipment to support the barriers?

In other words, if the compromise that's reached involves slightly more than say $1.6 billion, that will mean maybe 75 miles of additional border fencing/slats/etc. will actually be budgeted for. Assuming the rate per mile that the DHS got so uppity about.

This clearly is a problem that a majority of Congress still doesn't want to solve.

So those of us who believe that a secure border is reasonable and just, and not something evil, welp we'll just have to ...

Sit on the porch and listen to Roy Orbison and wait for a savior to rise from these streets.

Wait a minute. Trump said Mexico would pay for the Wall. He said it hundreds of times.

Not American taxpayers. Mexico. If Mexico is going to pay for it, that doesn’t mean we pay for it now and Mexico owes us. It doesn’t mean we pay for it and they will somehow, eventually compensate us later. It means they pay for it. Period.

It is not the fault of American taxpayers if Trump lied and lied and lied about this. Want a Wall? Call Mexico.

And it takes a lot of nerve to quote Springsteen in this context. He despises Trump, and he would never allow Trump to use his lyrics. So don’t. Just don’t.

This article does not mention Mexico paying for the Wall. Not once. What a despicable piece of writing.

We need to get a restraining order to keep the liars and racists and bigots away from that which is good and decent in American life and art.

The interest on the $21.9 Trillion national debt is $1.43 Billion per day (for 2018), and (on average) $1.23 Billion per day for the last 5 years (for a total of $2.25 Trillion in interest over the last 5 years from 2014 to 2018).

Therefore, the $5.7 Billion requested for physical barriers would be equal to a mere 3.99 days of interest on the national debt (for 2018). That is, 3.99=$5.7B/$1.43B

So, putting things in perspective, it appears rather nonsensical that Congress cannot find a way to agree on $5.9 to fund the building of more physical barriers. Especially, when it has been proven repeatedly that barriers work; especially in highly populated areas where thousands of people in a caravan may try to storm across a border, simultaneously.

Unfortunately, many Democrats care more about acquiring more power (for THEIR party via more votes), than securing the U.S. borders, and reducing crime (i.e. an average of about 2 thousand homicides per year by criminal non-citizens; source: www.gao.gov/assets/320/316959.pdf).

phx8 wrote: What a despicable piece of writing.

Non-criminal illegal immigrants simply looking for work are not the villains.
The true villains, and the truly despicable are:

(01) many Democrats, most of the Main Stream Media, others on the left, and similar ilk who (despicably) pit U.S. citizens and illegal immigrants against each other for votes, by pandering to illegal immigrants for 30+ years for more votes (via more representation in the House, via more U.S. House representatives, via apportionment of representatives (and electoral votes), based on population, based on the decennial CENSUS, which does not verify U.S. citizenship;

(02) many Democrats are also fighting against a check-box on the CENSUS, despite the check-box being totally inadequate to prove citizenship. Democrats disguise their desire for power (for THEIR party) as compassion for illegal immigrants, while despicably pitting U.S. citizens and illegal immigrants against each other for votes.

(04) many Democrats (and most of the main stream media) lie about how massive illegal (or legal) immigration is costing U.S. tax payers $296+ Billion (or more) per year in net losses (which does not include all costs, and does not include the cost of crime by illegal immigrants);

(05) many Democrats are calling for open borders;

(06) many Democrats are calling to abolish I.C.E. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement);

(07) many Democrats want another shamnesty, like the shamnesty of 1986;

(08) many Democrats refuse legislation to require employers to use eVerify (to verify eligibility for employment);

(09) many Democrats essentially prove that they seemingly care more about illegal immigrants than they care about U.S. citizens, but the Democrats real motiviation is more votes (which is despicable).

(11) many Democrats want more sanctuary cities and states, like California, where Democrats have passed sanctuary city and sanctuary state laws that protect criminal illegal immigrants (i.e. an illegal immigrant by the name of Garcia Zarate (who had already been deported 5 times) can shoot and murder Kate Steinle, and be (www.cnn.com/2017/11/30/us/kate-steinle-murder-trial-verdict/index.html)for that murder, despite Zarate admitting to shooting the weapon that killed Kate Steinle (which should have been, at the very least, manslaughter);

(12) many Democrats want to abolish the 2nd amendment, but many Democrats and many on the left call for restricting or eliminating 2nd Amendment rights, and say it is worth it “even if it saves only ONE life”, but conveniently ignore the thousands of people killed per year by criminal non-citizens (source: www.gao.gov/assets/320/316959.pdf); 32% of everyone in federal prison is an illegal immigrant (source: Source#3: cis.org/Huennekens/32-Federal-Inmates-Are-Aliens);

QUESTION: Why do Democrats do all of that (above)?ANSWER: For the votes.Posted by: d.a.n at December 27, 2018 4:03 PM

phx8 wrote: The GOP resulted to the unfavorable demographic squeeze of the past decades by rejecting the change, and doubling down on its dwindling base of ageing white, rural males with high school education or less.

phx8 wrote: Prejudice against immigrants among U.S. whites is NOT new … So what is happening today is NOT new, or some sort of intractable problem. Racism and bigotry from the rural, white crowds of Trump reflect a long American tradition of hatred.

This article does not mention Mexico paying for the Wall. Not once. What a despicable piece of writing.”

Tsk tsk.

As for “open borders,” I favor that in the same way we have open borders with Canada. I do not favor open borders with Mexico in the same way we have open borders between states in the United States.

I favor open borders, in that it should be easy to enter the US for an extended stay with nothing more than a passport, visa, and work permit. For those coming to become permanent citizens, it should require a background check and a perhaps a day or two of citizenship classes, followed by taking the oath.

This whole shutdown is totally implausible. It is basically a distraction from what is going on with Russia and the SCO. Looks like Michael Cohen really was in Prague, re the Steele Dossier. If so, that is game, set, and match.

That would also explain the wild gyrations in the stock markets. Earlier this year I predicted Trump would be impeached by May. I will stand by that prediction. IT will require a lot of Republican senators, and I think we are very near to the point where the evidence of Trump’s criminality and treason will be so overwhelming, there will be national agreement that he has to go.

So, RF, you want me to ‘look over there! Looook!’ And ignore what is happening right now.

No thank you.

Trump said Mexico would pay for the Wall. He said it hundreds of times. The Senate UNANIMOUSLY passed a CR to keep the government open, and Trump shut it down. He wants the American taxpayer to pay for a Wall, even though he said again and again and again and again and again that Mexico would pay for it.

(e) a reduction in monetary losses due to illegal immigrant estimated to be $296+ Billion (or more) per year;

etc.

Mexico is already paying in lives, blood, and treasure due to the drug cartels throughout Mexico, who easily trespass the U.S. border on a daily basis.

According to a 2018 Congressional Research Service report, many sources indicate that about 150,000 intentional homicides since 2006 (over 27 homicides per day) were by Mexican drug cartels and related organized-crime, who take in between $19 billion and $29 billion annually from drug sales in the U.S.

The Mexican government reports 9,635 deaths in 2009 in the drug war. (Mexican government, April 2010).

In 2008, 6,844 people are killed in Mexico’s drug war. (Mexican government, April 2010).

The Mexican government says that 34,612 citizens have been killed during the four-year drug war (DEC-2006 to DEC-2010).

January 11, 2012 - The office of Mexico’s Attorney General releases a statement saying that nearly 13,000 people were killed (over 35 per day) in drug violence in the 9 months between January and September 2011.

Voilence hit a peak in Mexico in 2017 with over 30,000 murders (up to 2,890 in one month) in the lead-up to 01-JUL-2018 election.
There were assassinations of 133 politicians in 22 of Mexico’s 31 states from September-2017 to July-2018.

It truly is amusing to read the hyperbole being presented by our Pal phx8. He now has breathed the poisoned political air of dirty democrat politics that he can not differentiate between Obama lies told while president; and Trump campaign rhetoric that has not yet happened.

Royal Flush wrote: phx8 is for open borders … and no amount of backpedaling or bullshit will change what we know to be true.

Exactly. More proof of hypocrisy and nonsensical back-pedaling …

phx8 back-pedaled:I favor open borders, in that it should be easy to enter the US for an extended stay with nothing more than a passport, visa, and work permit. For those coming to become permanent citizens, it should require a background check and a perhaps a day or two of citizenship classes, followed by taking the oath.

And how does phx8 expect thousands of illegal immigrants be stopped from trying to storm across the border simultaneously, and what does phx8 expect to do when illegal immigrants have already illegally trespassed the U.S. border? Give them a reward? Such as welfare, food stamps, free healthcare, Medicaid, free housing, free education, in-state tuition rates, automatic voter registration when receiving their driver licenses, etc. (costing U.S. tax payers $296 Billion (or more) per year in net losses)? OHHhhh … that’s right … it’s about more votes, and more power for the Democrat party, eh?

Now, phx8 is trying to shift blame for market volatility on Trump …

phx8 wrote:That would also explain the wild gyrations in the stock markets. Earlier this year I predicted Trump would be impeached by May [2019]. I will stand by that prediction.

It is no coincidence that stock market started falling immediately, and drastically, after the election in which Democrats regained a majority in the House of Representatives on 06-NOV-2018:

Dow Jones Industrial Average (since election on 06-NOV-2018):

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phx8 wrote: I think we are very near to the point where the evidence of Trump’s criminality and treason will be so overwhelming, there will be national agreement that he has to go.
phx8 has been predicting the impeachment of Trump for years. Yet, phx8 and similar ilk, consumed with hate, and wishful thinking, still fail to produce a shred of evidence. Despite 2 years of Mueller investigations, this is little (or no) investigation of any of this.